El Mayo handed life in prison in Brooklyn after plea, cartel leadership fractured
Mexican drug lord Ismael Zambada García, known as El Mayo, was sentenced in a Brooklyn federal court to life in prison after a plea deal that admitted he led the Sinaloa cartel’s drug trafficking network; the judgment includes a $15 billion forfeiture and underscores a fracturing cartel as U.S. authorities pursue high‑profile leaders and as rival factions compete for territory.
